Passion
by Innocent Sweets
Summary: Echizen Rika moved to Japan after a tragic accident and attends Rikkaidai after swearing off tennis. Watch as the regulars all meet her and show her that it's okay to open up again to the passion of her life, tennis, to open up to new people and befriend them, and maybe even how to open her heart to love. Inspired by StarianNightZz-Ice Princess of Rikkaidai. FemRyoma x Yukimura
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis, its characters, or any other copyrighted material I might reference in this story.

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 **Prologue:**

 _"How terrible it is to love something death can touch"_

 _Echizen Rika never understood this, never realized what this would mean for her until it was too late._

'No… no! It can't… why… I don't understand… what's going on… but… what is this… how! How, how, how? This can't be happening! It's a lie, right… Right?'

While all of the was going on in Rika's head, the young girl was staring at the doctor in disbelief and didn't register the older woman who spoke the doctor briefly nor the doctor's exit following the conversation. All Rika could focus on was on the memories that led up to now in the hospital as she wondered where everything went wrong.

Meanwhile, the other woman, Rinko Echizen, shared a look with her husband, Nanjiroh, as they wondered what this would mean for them all, especially Rika considering her seemingly permanent shell-shocked state at the moment, even as their grief and despair threatened to drown them both. Suddenly, the doors slammed opened to reveal a frantic young man with a face filled with desperation.

The boy quickly took in the room before his face fell as he realized the truth. He nodded to the two adults in the room before walking towards the young girl who didn't seem to notice his presence even after he had gathered her stiff body into his arms in what was meant to be a comforting hug. He refused to let her go even as he turned and spoke to the others.

"Oyaji… kaa-san," he had to stop for a moment as his grief caught up to him, but then he took in a deep breath before continuing, "I came as soon as I heard, it's true isn't it? K… Kevin's dead… isn't he?"

"Ryoga…" began Rinko before a sob stopped her. Nanjiroh, who had been silent up to this point, stepped up to wrap his arms around his wife and turned to Ryoga with an uncharacteristically serious face and confirmed what no one in the room wanted to hear.

"Hai... Ryoga, he…" Nanjiroh paused for moment as he was as choked up with emotions as the rest of the room before continuing, "Kevin's dead."

The room was silent as everyone processed those words before they realized Rika must have broken out of her frozen trance at one point as she was now staring at her father in horror, shaking her head slowly with tears running down her beautiful face. In the coarsest voice any of them had ever heard, she managed to choke out her words in a whisper, "H-how did this happen? No! Why? Why?" Everyone stayed silent, not knowing what to say to the obviously distraught teenager, and Rika seemed to realize at that moment that denial was futile as she closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing.

"Why are we even here?" Everyone in the room was speechless, not so much because of the words but rather due to the utter defeat ringing out clearly in her voice that normally was full of confidence and pride to the point of arrogance at times. "What… what's the point if," here she had to pause as she couldn't even bring herself to say _his_ name, "if… if _he's_ not here? What are we going to do? I-I'm sorry I just can't. I _can't_. Please! Let's leave. I can't stay here. There's no point! No point in staying if Kevin can't! No point to anything if Kevin's gone."

At this point everyone was looking at Rika with varying degrees of shock and sadness. As she reached the end of her mini speech her voice became more frantic and hysteric. Finally, Rika looked up and all of their hearts broke at the look on her face and they promised themselves to never allow anything to cause her to wear that expression again if they could help it. With her words and devastated face along with their own grief, they had little ammunition to prevent themselves from giving in to her request even as she tore their hearts apart with one last whisper.

 _"Please…"_

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Hello! Ok, so this is my first fanfiction and I have high hopes for this one. I have been on this site for years and am a member of many fandoms but this is my first time writing a story instead of reading it and I'm glad it's for Prince of Tennis. I want you all to know that I have plans for this one but unfortunately, I am a well known procrastinator so please be patient with me if updates are a bit inconsistent especially once school gets back in session. Please follow, favorite, and review! I like constructive criticism but please don't flame.


	2. A New World

Hello, I'm so sorry for taking so long. As I've already said, I might update within a week, I might update within 6 months. But thank you for those who choose to stick with me, I love you all!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis.

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 **Chapter 1: A New World**

 _"Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to what they use to be"_

Rika woke up freezing and wet and looked up at the culprit with a glare as her precious Himalayan cat jumped off the bed.

"A-N-I-K-I," she growled as she slowly got out of bed and began stalking towards Ryoga whose laughter was becoming more nervous sounding by the second. He began to back away from his furious sister before he pivoted and sprinted out of her room as quickly as he could in fear while Rika chased after him, screaming promises of his death even though they both knew she would never follow them up, especially with how she had been acting towards her family lately, holding them as close to her heart as she could since _his_ death 3 months ago.

Even with Rika chasing after him and him running away in fear of her retribution, Ryoga couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face. They had barely been in Japan for a week and she already seemed more alive in comparison to the absolutely broken shell she was before. Rika was nowhere near back to being her old self but it seemed the move had definitely helped her and that made all the stress of tying up loose ends in America as quickly as possible completely worthwhile. However, no matter how happy that made him and how proud he was of his sister, that did not mean he would be stopping anytime soon. No chance! Rika always seemed to find the best ways to get back at him and make him regret crossing her (not that it ever stopped him from doing it again), but right as this thought crossed his mind, Ryoga heard someone clear their voice in a forceful manner obviously meant to grab their attention.

"Ahem."

At the startling noise, the two siblings froze in place before timidly turning around and faced they're irate mother who had her hands on her waist and had an ever present sweet smile that they knew hid her intentions of what she'd do to them if they continued misbehaving.

"Now then, would someone please explain what in the world you two were doing? Ryoga, I thought I sent you to wake Rika up for her first day at school!" At this Ryoga seemed to shrink into himself and Rika had to stifle her amusement at seeing his chastised face, however although her resident poker face fooled almost everyone, her mother seemed to be the exception as she turned to Rika after finishing with Ryoga. "And you, young missy! What are you doing running around, dripping water all over the floors? You should be getting ready for school, not playing! Do you **want** to be late? Now you are going to go up those stairs, clean yourself up, and get ready or so help me kami-sama!"

Immediately, all of her amusement fled away and while she offered no apology, the two knew her well enough to tell that she was sorry as they watched her start walking up the stairs silently. She reached her room in no time and began drawing her bath. While the water was running she approached her closet to grab her uniform and couldn't help pausing to admire it for a moment after seeing it for the first time. Rika was not all too comfortable with wearing skirts but she couldn't help thinking that Rikkaidai Kouko's uniform was really cute. It consisted of a plain white button up and a blue and black striped necktie which was paired with a forest green blazer with the school's emblem on the lapel and a pleated skirt of the same shade of green. She will also be wearing thigh high black socks, black flats, and a green hair ribbon that her mother had put on her vanity in conspicuous view making it obvious that she very much expected Rika to use it.

After finishing her bath and getting dressed, Rika spun out of her room and headed back downstairs without bothering to check her appearance in the mirror. There was no point, after all. She wouldn't see the beautiful teen staring back at her nor would she focus on how her uniform fit her seamlessly. All she could see in the mirror nowadays is the obviously empty space behind her where an annoying, smiling blond should have stood, teasing her, complimenting her, doing anything really. She didn't care what he was doing, just so long as he was there, as long as he were alive. Oh, how she wished for that to be true!

But it wasn't and that meant she had to move on with her life, no matter how much it hurt, how much she wished to live in the past where everything was fine because he was still there, she couldn't. And in the end, that was all she could tell herself. That was what was guiding her through all the daily motions of life, from the bantering to getting dressed to eating breakfast with minimal conversation and then finally out the front door as she began walking to her new school. It was almost as though Rika was watching her body go through the motions without any guidance from her with how numb she was. However, she knew the truth. She could feel the pain, the loneliness, and all of her sorrow. And she accepted it as her new reality right as she passed the school gate and was seemingly thrown back into her body as she had to crane her neck to look at Rikkaidai High School before continuing forth to where she knew the main office was from her last visit with her mother to register her.

She had come particularly early that morning so she could settle any lingering issues with her registration as well as to speak with the principal and meet her homeroom teacher. They had called her new home yesterday requesting for her to arrive early so she could do all this as well as receive her schedule and a quick tour of the school. With a deep breath, Rika stepped into the office and asked to speak with the principal.

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 **I hope you guys enjoyed that! I know that it's pretty tedious and monotonous and that it ends at an awkward spot but please bear with me! Constructive criticism is always welcome but please don't flame. Follow, Favorite, and Review please!**


	3. Breathe

**Disclaimer:** I don't own PoT.

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 **Chapter 2: Breathe**

 _"No matter how you feel… Get up. Dress up. Show up. And never give up."_

As Rika stepped inside, she couldn't help the goosebumps that appeared on her flesh when she felt the blast of cold air blow straight into her face. She walked briskly to the secretary's desk only bothering to give the otherwise empty room a cursory glance before all of her attention was stolen by the older woman sitting behind the desk.

"Hello, dearie. Is there something you need?" Her voice was kind and welcoming and Rika couldn't help smiling back before responding.

"Yes ma'am. Ano… My name is Echizen Rika and I was called yesterday to come in early. I think the principal wanted to talk to me?" Rika hadn't spoken much in the past few months but she retained her manners and spoke as clearly and politely as possible.

"Ah! Yes, yes. You're the new transfer student from America, right? Let me take right back to Iwamura Kouchou. You're quite lucky, he just got in."

As Rika was led to the door in the back of the room, the secretary kept up some idle chatter about how she must be dead tired from the move and how she was going to love Kanagawa and Rikkaidai. When the pair halted at their destination, Rika interrupted the secretary.

"Arigato for escorting me, I'm sure I can take it from here."

The older woman took her interruption in stride and replied with, "Of course sweetie! Now, he's expecting you so just go straight in." After thanking her one more time, Rika went into the principal's office and immediately bowed to the slightly pudgy man who was organizing the desk in the center of the room.

"Konnichiwa kouchou! You said you wished to speak with me? Is it about my registration?"

"Ah, Echizen-chan! Come in, come in. I wasn't expecting you until later." The principal paused and waited until she had sat down to continue. "Everything's fine with your registration, no I wanted to talk to you about your schedule."

At this Rika was both relieved and confused, "My schedule?"

Seeing her confusion, the principal began explaining, "Yes, you see, you scored remarkably high on your entrance exam and so you've been placed in a grade level or two higher for certain subjects. Of course some classes have to be taken with the other freshmen." Ignoring her slightly stupefied expression, granted the only real difference was a slight widening of the eyes but still, he continued.

"It's truly a high honor! Now, where did I put it? Ah, here it is!" The principal pulled out a sheet of paper and laid it out for her to see what she realized was her schedule.

She was still slightly stunned by the news for a few more seconds to register anything else. Rika knew she was very intelligent and was damn proud of it too (ah the joys of rubbing it in the faces of her baka oyaji and baka aniki) but still she never expected this! She quickly returned to herself and scanned her schedule and wasn't too surprised by the particular classes they had put her in.

With the third years she would have English (no surprise there) and Science (her favorite subject). She would be having Math and Japanese with the second years. For Homeroom, Japanese History, Government, P.E., Music, Health, and Home Economics, Rika was going to study with the rest of the freshmen.

She looked back up to the principal when he resumed talking.

"Now then. My reason for calling you to come in early was to make sure that you are uncomfortable with this schedule. If you are we can put you with the first years for all your classes. However, I wished to show you your custom schedule first as I feel it would challenge you more and therefore would be a better choice for you. The choice is yours of course do please tell me which you would prefer."

Rika thought about it briefly even though she knew her mind had been made up from the moment the choice had been presented to her.

"I think... I think I will go with the accelerated schedule kouchou."

(A/N: I thought about stopping here but I honestly do want to start writing longer chapters and this is still tedious like the last one and I know everyone wants to get to the actual first day and the meetings and stuff so onwards!)

The principal smiled and said, "Good choice. Now that's all I needed to speak with you over so allow me to take you to your homeroom teacher and he will tell you the rest"

Without waiting for a response, the principal walked out of the room and began heading towards the teachers' office which turned out to be on the second floor.

The moment the teachers present realized that the principal had walked in, they all chorused, "Ohayou Iwamura kouchou."

"Ohayou minna! Ah there you are Kajimoto sensei! This is our new student, Echizen Rika. Echizen-chan, I leave you in his hands." With those parting words, he left quite abruptly.

"Konnichiwa Echizen-san. I am Kajimoto sensei, your homeroom teacher. I heard about your unique schedule, would I be correct in assuming you have agreed to it?"

"Hai, sensei." Rika said in response.

"Very well then. Allow me to give you a brief tour of the school and if you would show me your schedule then I can make sure to point out your second and third year classrooms."

Rika silently passed it to her teacher who told her she would be classrooms 1-A with the freshmen, 2-E with the second years, and 3-B with the third years.

She remained silent throughout the tour though she became rather annoyed when midway through the tour, the teacher began praising the tennis club nonstop after having pointed out the courts. She was rather glad when the bell rang and interrupted him. They walked back to classroom 1-A where Kajimoto sensei asked her to wait outside the door until he called for her to come in.

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And stop. Ok then, quick update, not so much angst, and finally the next chapter is gonna be the first day. Please stick with me and I would appreciate favorites, follows, and reviews!


	4. Annoyance

**Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.**

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 **Chapter 3: Annoyance**

 _"What's the point in having a mind if you don't use it to make judgments?"_

 _"What's the point in having a heart if you don't use it to spare others from the harsh judgments of your mind?"_

' ** _He_** would have been excited about all this. Being in Japan. First day of school. Meeting new people. Trying out for a national level ten… no… don't go there. Don't do this to yourself, Rika.' These thoughts kept on swirling around in her head on repeat before she was startled when she heard Kajimoto-sensei raise his voice from inside the classroom about 5 minutes after class had started.

"Echizen-san, please come in."

With those words, Rika opened the door and stepped into the room. The previously silent class immediately burst into whispers the moment they caught sight of her. "Kirei" and "Kawaii" were the most prominent words heard. Still, she ignored everyone as she walked up to the teacher and only then did she face the classroom.

The teacher waited for the class to quiet down before speaking again. "Class, this is Echizen Rika, she just moved here from America." After saying this, he turned to Rika and continued, "Echizen-san please introduce yourself."

"Ohayou, my name is Echizen Rika. Yoroshiku." That was all she offered even after the teacher prompted her to say more. She remained silent when her peers questioned her. And the only sign that she was paying attention at all was when she walked to the desk Kajimoto-sensei pointed out to her. Still, it seemed that her aloof behavior just made her classmates all the more interested in her rather than the other way around.

"Alright class, settle down. Now there are no more announcements for today so you're free to study, read, or chat for the next 20 minutes before first period starts." The moment the words escaped his mouth everyone turned to look at the desk by the window currently occupied by Rika. They were all eager to talk to her but were disappointed to see that she had fallen asleep.

Some weren't discouraged however, and tried to wake her up. 'Hmm, it's so loud. Huh, is there an earthquake.' thought Rika before she was pulled further into sleep's clutches.

~ 2 Hours Later ~

'Haa, the senseis here are so nice. They let me sleep the whole time.' was what Rika thought as she headed to her first class with the third years for the day unaware of the truth. Her history and government teachers were rather stressed after leaving their classes with her. 'Too bad I can't always do that,' Rika thought, 'After all, there's a reason they put me with the freshman for those courses and I need to be good or they might take away their generous offer. At least, for now I can just say I'm tired from the move and that should do it. Ugh, this is going to be a pain.'

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 **AN:** I am so sorry for the long delay and short chapter. I've had the worst case of writer's block ever. I actually wrote this up not that long after the last chapter but because it's so short I wanted to add stuff to it but it just wouldn't come to me so I'm going to post it as is and hope that you awesome people stick with me and enjoy this. What's most frustrating is that I know exactly where I want to go with this, I just find myself unable to sit down and write it down. Another reason for the delay though is because of all the craziness that is senior year, complete with sooo much homework and college applications. So thank you everyone who has stuck with me through this and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as short as it was. Fave, Follow, and Review!


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